BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 992 (Brandes) makes several changes related to employer and employee contributions, as well as account allocations, under the Florida Retirement System Investment Plan. SB 992 clarifies that if an employee defaults into the investment plan retroactively to the date of employment, the employee and employer begin paying employee and employer contributions at the applicable rate for investment plan members only after the default has occurred and not retroactively to the date of hire. The bill would also allow FRS investment plan members to make voluntary, after-tax employee contributions to their investment plan accounts, up to the maximum allowed by IRS rules. Employee contribution rates to the investment plan are currently 3% of gross compensation. Beginning July 1, 2021, SB 992 would increase member contribution rates for investment plan members initially enrolled before July 1, 2020, until the rate of all membership classes under the investment plan is 5%. The bill incrementally increases allocations to investment plan accounts. In order to fund the increased allocations to investment plan member accounts under SB 992, required employer contribution rates would be increased by an amount that has yet to be determined by the Legislature. Finally, the bill requires the State Board of Administration to prepare a report that examines the adequacy and use of current annuity options available to members of the investment plan. (Hughes)

SB 7044 (Government Oversight and Accountability) and HB 5007 (Appropriations Committee) revise the required employer retirement contribution rates for each membership class and subclass of the Florida Retirement System. The aggregate employer contributions anticipated to be paid into the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund in Fiscal Year 2020-2021 will increase by approximately $404.5 million when compared to the employer contributions paid in Fiscal Year 2019-2020. (Hughes)

SB 936 (Gainer) and HB 593 (Williamson) allow a Florida Retirement System member who is receiving care at a federal Veterans’ Health Administration facility to provide certification by two licensed physicians employed by the facility as proof of total and permanent disability; regardless of the state in which the physicians are licensed. (Hughes)

SB 804 (Brandes) and CS/HB 1 (Grant, J.) revise the requirements for an employee to authorize the deduction and collection of dues and uniform assessments by an employer. The bills require a public employee who desires to join an employee organization must sign a membership authorization form that contains a specific acknowledgement. The bill requires that dues and uniform assessments may not be deducted from an employee’s salary until the employer receives a signed authorization form from the bargaining agent and is able to confirm with the employee that he or she authorized such deductions. The deductions are in force until the certified bargaining agent ratifies a new collective bargaining agreement with the public employer or for three years after the date the deduction begins, whichever is earlier. (Hughes)

HB 1033 (Raschein) extends membership in the Special Risk Class to individuals employed by a local government as a pilot or registered nurse and who perform their primary duties on an air ambulance service and operated by the local government. (Hughes)

SB 1630 (Flores) and HB 785 (Rodriguez, Anthony) adds employees of water, sewer or other public works departments of participating employers who work in hazardous conditions to the Special Risk Class of the Florida Retirement System. (Hughes)

CS/SB 566 (Bracy) and HB 761 (Brown) amend the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 to incorporate certain hairstyles as protected from discrimination. The bills prohibit employers from discriminating against an individual for having a protected hairstyle. (Hughes)

SB 616 (Powell) and HB 473 (Omphroy) prohibit a public employer from inquiring into or considering an applicant’s criminal history on an initial employment application unless otherwise required by law. A public employer could inquire into or consider an applicant’s criminal history only after the applicant’s qualifications have been screened and the employer has determined the applicant meets the minimum employment requirements for the position. (Hughes)

CS/SB 160 (Perry) and CS/HB 573 (Casello) create a privileged exception for peer-to-peer communications between first responders, such as law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians/paramedics, public safety communications officers and dispatchers. The bills provide that such peer-to-peer communications are confidential and prevent first responders from testifying to the contents of such communications during legal proceedings and disciplinary hearings. The bills also create several exceptions to the privilege. (Hughes)

HB 1265 (Byrd), CS/SB 664 (Lee) and SB 1822 (Gruters) require public employers, contractors and subcontractors to register with and use the E-Verify system to verify the work authorization status of all newly hired employees. E-Verify is a United States Department of Homeland Security website that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees, both U.S. and foreign citizens, to work in the United States. A public employer, contractor or subcontractor may not enter into a contract unless each party to the contract registers with and uses the E-Verify system. HB 1265 and SB 1822 also require private employers to verify a person’s employment eligibility either through the E-Verify system or by requiring other specified documentation. A private employer may not bid on or otherwise contract with a public employer for the performance of labor or services in this state unless the private employer provides the public employer with an affidavit stating that the employer is registered with and uses the E-Verify system to verify that all newly hired employees are legal citizens of the United States or legal aliens. CS/SB 664 requires private employers to register with and use the E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of new employees but exempts agricultural employers and those businesses that employ fewer than 150 employees. (Hughes)

HB 425 (Clemons) and CS/SB 858 (Gruters) require the Department of Management Services to calculate a cost-of-living factor for each retiree and beneficiary who was a member of the Special Risk Class on June 30, 2011, is a member of the Special Risk Class on his or her effective date of retirement and retires on or after July 1, 2011, with service credit earned before July 1, 2011. This factor shall equal the product of 3 percent multiplied by the quotient of the sum of the member's service credit earned for service before July 1, 2011, divided by the sum of the member's total service credit earned as of June 30, 2020. CS/SB 858 was amended to include the increased required employer contribution rates for members of the Florida Retirement System to fund these benefit changes. (Hughes)

HB 75 (Hill) revises payment amounts under the salary incentive program for law enforcement officers. Beginning in January 2021, the bill provides for annual inflation adjustment amounts. (Hughes)

CS/HB 487 (Fetterhoff) and SB 1092 (Bean) create the Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Grant Program. The grant will provide financial assistance to help fire departments procure equipment, supplies, and education training designed to mitigate exposure to hazardous, cancer-causing chemicals. The Division of State Fire Marshal within the Department of Financial Services will administer the program and annually award grants to fire departments on an as-needed basis. (Hughes)

HB 305 (Rommel) and SB 1126 (Gruters) prohibit a political subdivision, including a municipality, from establishing, mandating or otherwise requiring an employer to offer conditions of employment not otherwise required by state or federal law. An “employer” is defined as any person who is engaged in any activity, enterprise or business in this state and employs at least one employee. The bills expressly preempt the regulation of minimum wage and other conditions of employment to the state. The bills do not limit the authority of a political subdivision to regulate minimum wage or to require conditions of employment for employees of the political subdivision, employees of a contractor or subcontractor who provides goods or services to the political subdivision and employees of an employer receiving a direct tax abatement or subsidy from the political subdivision as a condition of the direct tax abatement or subsidy. Any ordinance, regulation or policy of a political subdivision that is preempted by the bills and which existed before or on the effective date of this act is void. (Hughes)

HB 215 (Casello) and CS/SB 620 (Hooper) revise the current process that must be followed for the interrogation of firefighters. The bills revise the definition of “interrogation” to include questioning related to informal inquiries. The bills require all witnesses to be interviewed prior to beginning the interrogation of the firefighter when possible. The bills also require that the firefighter be provided the complaint, all witness statements and all other existing evidence before the interrogation. A firefighter being interrogated may not be threatened with transfer, dismissal or disciplinary action. The bills also set a timeline for certain information to be provided to the firefighter and prohibit any retaliatory action against the firefighter for exercising his or her rights. The complaint and other investigative information are confidential and exempt from public records pursuant to the current law, and the “informal inquiry” does not include discussions such as safety sessions, normal operations fire debriefings and routine work-related discussions. (Hughes)

HB 99 (Andrade) and SB 1406 (Broxson)require entities that administer high-risk youth athletic activities or training related to such activities on land owned, leased, operated or maintained by the state or a political subdivision to require any unpaid or volunteer athletics personnel to complete a course approved by the Department of Health that provides information on how to prevent or decrease the chances of a participant from sustaining a serious physical injury. High-risk youth athletic activity is defined as any organized sport for children 14 years of age or younger in which there is a significant possibility for the child to sustain a serious physical injury. The term includes football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer, ice or field hockey, cheerleading and lacrosse. (Cook)

HB 83 (Duran) creates a waiver of exemption from childcare facility licensing requirements for government-sponsored recreation programs that meet certain criteria, including having adopted their own standards of care. CS/CS/SB 668 (Book) revises the definition of the term “child care facility” to exclude government-sponsored recreation programs. The bill allows counties, other municipalities and school districts to create and operate recreation programs for children at least five years old and requires such programs to offer four programming hours per day the bill specifies standards of care relating to staffing ratios, minimum staff qualifications, health and safety standards, and a level 2 background screening requirement for all staff and volunteers. CS/CS/SB 668 also requires such programs to notify parents of all children participating that the program is not state-licensed, clarifies that the program may not advertise itself as a child care facility and requires the program to provide all parents with the county or municipality’s standards of care. (Cook)

SB 630 (Mayfield), CS/SB 670 (Gruters) and HB 457 (LaMarca) are bills filed relating to smoking. SB 630 authorizes cities to restrict smoking within the bounds of municipally owned public parks. SB 670 and HB 457 authorize counties to restrict smoking within any public beaches or parks. CS/SB 670 was amended with language allowing cities to also restrict smoking within public beaches and parks they own. Additionally, the bills prohibit smoking within the boundaries of a state park. (Cook)

HB 447 (DiCeglie) and SB 740 (Diaz) – Real Estate

HB 497 (Buchanan) and SB 530 (Gruters) – Entertainment Industry

HB 623 (Shoaf), SB 1154 (Baxley) and HB 1257 (Tomkow) – Community Association 

HB 855 (Payne) – Special Districts

SB 910 (Torres) and HB 6013 (Eskamani) – Rent Control Methods

SB 1410 (Cruz) – Public School Transportation

SB 912 (Diaz) and HB 689 (Rodriguez, Anthony) – Department of Business and Professional Regulation

SB 694 (Mayfield) and SB 810 (Simmons) – Nicotine and Tobacco Products 

HB 729 (Rodrigues) and SB 1238 (Diaz) – Regulatory Reform

HB 907 (Bell) and SB 1202 (Powell) – Care for Retired Law Enforcement Dogs

SB 470 (Brandes) – Searches of Cellular Phones and Other Electronic Devices

SB 980 (Brandes) and HB 685 (Silvers) – Lost, Stray, Unwanted or Homeless Dogs and Cats

HB 1195 (Plakon) – Gaming

HB 1315 (Fernandez) and SB 1752 (Pizzo) – Condominium Associations

HB 1059 (Grall) and SB 1634 (Stargel) – Parental Rights

SB 1280 (Diaz) – Automated License Plate Recognition Systems

HB 707 (Renner) and SB 1124 (Diaz) establish a schedule for systematic review of the costs and benefits of occupational regulatory programs. The bills require the Legislature to review each program before the scheduled date on which each occupational regulatory program is set to expire to determine whether to allow the program to expire, renew the program without modifications, renew the program with modifications or provide for other appropriate actions. Of note to local governments, any state program that expires through scheduled repeal may not then be regulated by a local government unless regulation of such occupations is expressly authorized by law. (Cruz)